International travellers on Virgin Australia should check which lounge they can use, following changes to the Lounge Access policies that are coming into effect next week. The changes affect the lounges that can be used by international travellers flting out of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.
To say the changes are confusing would be an understatement. As Virgin does not operate its own international lounges, it relies on partners to provide lounge facilities. The changes to the lounge access rules affect which lounges you can use when flying Virgin.
The changes, coming into effect on November 1, will affect business class travellers and Velocity Gold and Platinum frequent flyers.
What’s Changing?
The lounge that you have access to will depend on where you are travelling to. To a large extent, it is reflective of Virgin moving away from using Air New Zealand lounges when not flying to New Zealand.
Sydney
The following services will be changing lounges. When flyin on services to Abu Dhabi or New Zealand there is no change
| Service | Lounge until 31 October | Lounge From 1 November |
|---|---|---|
| Virgin Australia operated services to Los Angeles only | Air New Zealand Lounge | Etihad Airways First and Business Class Lounge |
| Access available when travelling on services to Denpasar, Nadi and Nuku’alofa only | Air New Zealand Lounge | Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge |
| Virgin Australia operated services to Apia only. | Air New Zealand Lounge | SkyTeam Exclusive Lounge |
Melbourne
| Service | Lounge until 31 October | Lounge From 1 November |
|---|---|---|
| Virgin Australia operated services to Pacific Islands | Air New Zealand Lounge | Virgin Australia Lounge
(Domestic Terminal) |
Brisbane
| Service | Lounge until 31 October | Lounge From 1 November |
|---|---|---|
| Virgin Australia operated services to Los Angeles | Air New Zealand Lounge | Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge |
| Virgin Australia operated services to Denpasar and Pacific Islands | Air New Zealand Lounge | Plaza Premium Lounge |
What’s Not?
If you are departing Australia to either Abu Dhabi or New Zealand, there is no change to the lounges that you will have access to.
The need to go to different lounges depending on where you are travelling is unfortunate. It is also unfortunate that travellers out of Melbourne are being directed to the domestic lounge.